iTKO Previews LISA 2.5 Software, Automated Testing Fears Recede; General Availability Release in June 2004.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2004

Software Introduces Next-Generation Test Performance,

"15-Minute" Usability, Connectivity and Monitoring Capabilities

iTKO (Interactive TKO) Inc. announces an upcoming release that closes the quality gap in today's business software development process. LISA 2.5 automated testing software is now available as a pre-release for quality experts and media evaluators, with general availability for purchase in June 2004.

Software quality is a mandate in today's economy. The need for an affordable QA solution that can support every stakeholder in major enterprise development environments has never been greater.

LISA 2.5 Automated Testing software from iTKO provides an elegant and complete solution that the entire team can use throughout development, so businesses can confidently deliver mature, industrial-strength Java applications, web sites and Web Services.

LISA 2.0 was already the first no-code automated testing solution for complex J2EE applications. LISA 2.5 represents a huge leap forward in ease of use and flexibility, making it possible for entire companies to commit to automated testing initiatives without breaking their timeline or budget. Within 15 minutes of installing LISA, you will be perfectly capable of connecting to and thoroughly testing an EJB or web service, without taking a single class or writing a line of code.

LISA consists of two components: LISA Workstation, which is the environment for defining and staging tests, and LISA Server, the "engine" that powers and controls scheduled tests and load tests.

New features for LISA 2.5 Workstation include:

-- Enhanced user interface that simplifies test case creation and

review though a point-and-click "tree" environment that even

non-technical users can easily understand

-- "What Next?" Wizards available when and where you need them

delivered specifically to address user feedback and to make

LISA the most productive testing tool for J2EE 

-- Test Case Template settings for a company or specific

deployment environment can be stored and applied, saving time

in test creation and management

-- Automated "inline testing" wizards allow LISA to discover and

interact with most EJBs, web services (SOAP), databases and

Java applications in one or two steps, without the usual

programming or syntax problems

-- Metrics dashboard UI of real-time graphing, statistics and

data feeds from ongoing tests.

-- Ability to store, save and send any LISA test case or exact

test run conditions, export data in multiple formats, and full

support of JUnit/Ant builds, allowing true test collaboration

among users.

New features for LISA 2.5 Server include:

-- State-of-the-art metrics with new JMX support and improved

SNMP browsers to allow LISA users to read and interpret

performance results for almost any connected server

-- Application server coverage, providing LISA with the most

common presets and configurations for IBM WebSphere, BEA 

WebLogic, JBoss, and other servers.

-- Massive load testing performance - a single LISA Server can

generate more "virtual users" than most applications or sites

can handle at a fraction of the memory and hardware overhead

of competing solutions.

-- "Sandbox" ability to pull in and isolate multiple instances of

an application or class during tests - a huge differentiator

in active development environments where one or more

components or EJBs cannot yet handle multiple test users.

LISA is also unique among automated testing solutions as it is developed in pure Java, meaning it runs identically on Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris or any certified Java 1.3.1+ platform.

Fighting the fear bug

Fear sells large-scale enterprise software testing, because the horror stories far outnumber the successes. A US government analysis in 2002 discovered that less than 25% of software applications are actually delivered within the proposed timeline and budget. A major analyst firm discovered that one in three enterprise projects fail altogether. Software errors cost companies billions of dollars nationwide in terms of rework and lost cycle time. Add to this the impact of customer dissatisfaction and corporate accountability issues, and the fear is understandable.

New Internet standards such as XML and web services have enabled applications to talk to each other and leverage existing systems with greater ease. However, the expectations of competitive businesses have grown along with these standards, driving more complex applications. Each new integration point becomes an opportunity for failure.

There are several tools that simulate a user's "points and clicks" and measure response times for a web site. But Fortune 1000 financial institutions and major corporations must support volumes of data and complex business logic on the back end. Until now, the only way to test these complex server environments was through manual coding of tests or massive user operation of the applications.

Making the whole team own quality

LISA's real value lies in her ability to allow both developers and non-technical business users to participate in quality and compliance initiatives.

Since timelines and resources are limited, it is simply infeasible to thoroughly test a system manually. Developers can unit test what they believe is a right outcome, but they are usually the least qualified to validate that the actual business requirements are met. QA teams can test for front-end bugs, but they have no visibility into the root cause of the errors they find.

Business managers appreciate the quick ROI LISA offers. LISA is easy to install and configure and comes at a license price that encourages everyone to get involved. Since LISA is a no-code environment, QA analysts and process owners can participate in testing and monitoring throughout the development cycle with little training required. Analysts ensure that the solution is not only error-free, but that it meets end customer requirements.

For developers, LISA was built to test extreme conditions for the most demanding enterprise applications. It can easily uncover and report the exact source of any problems stemming from web and app servers, network transmission, database storage and retrieval, middleware, other applications and attached components (such as EJBs) from the environment level, to servers and apps, all the way down to the most granular Java code level. LISA's fast inline test configuration, no-code test creation and generation saves developers measurable time and effort as well.

About iTKO

iTKO is a software development firm tightly focused on providing development solutions that support their mission to allow the entire organization to own quality. iTKO has a diverse customer base, ranging from some of the world's largest financial institutions and software design firms, to individual developers and QA testers. The Dallas-based company was founded in 1994 as an interactive consultancy, building several of the world's most well-traveled online markets and eCommerce applications. iTKO incorporated the disciplines learned from these real-world engagements into their LISA (automated testing) and JPL (presentation layer) products to help enterprises deliver maximum quality with minimum effort. For more information on iTKO and LISA 2.5, visit our site at http://www.itko.com.

Note to Editors: Your readers are more concerned than ever about software quality, compliance, and performance. This is a 6-week advance product notice about a major improvement in testing capabilities. Feel free to contact iTKO to schedule an online product review or interview.